News Releases

News Release - Canada and Manitoba

October 12, 2017

GOVERNMENTS ANNOUNCE EXPANDED FLOOD-RISK MAPPING IN MANITOBA

Manitoba will add vital flood information to its flood mapping inventory for three of its priority watersheds in the Assiniboine River and Lake Manitoba basins with support from the Government of Canada, Infrastructure Minister Ron Schuler announced today with Doug Eyolfson, member of Parliament for Charleswood-St. James-Assiniboia-Headingley, on behalf of the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness.

“Identifying the height and extent of a potential flood event is critical to support informed decisions and investments to reduce the impacts of flooding on communities,” said Schuler. “Manitoba is one of the best prepared provinces to respond to flooding and mitigate damages.The funding announced today will help expand the mapping of flood-prone areas of the province to better forecast and prepare for what nature sends our way.”

The governments today announced $794,520 in federal funding over three years for Manitoba under the federal National Disaster Mitigation Program to be used to produce flood-risk maps for three watersheds in Manitoba. The three priority areas identified for this funding are the lower Assiniboine River, from Portage la Prairie to the west Perimeter Highway, the Whitemud River and the Souris River.

“Weather-related natural disasters are getting more severe, more frequent, more damaging and more expensive,” said Ralph Goodale, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness. “This is a threat not only to the safety of our communities, but to our economic stability. The Government of Canada is determined to reduce these risks in partnership with provinces and territories. The project announced today will help the Government of Manitoba better prepare for and respond to flooding.”

Manitoba will use Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) remote sensing technology to produce these new flood-risk maps. LiDAR uses laser technology to collect accurate, continuous elevation data, known as topographic data, over relatively large areas.

Manitoba has approximately 40,500 squarekilometres of high altitude aerial LiDAR within its elevation library. An additional 29,185 square kilometres is being collected and will be added to the elevation library in 2018. This collectively represents 67 per cent of southern Manitoba.

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For more information:

Public information, contact Manitoba Government Inquiry: 1-866-626-4862 or 204-945-3744.